Fluid control tap and plug assembly

ABSTRACT

A fluid flow control tap and plug assembly in which there is a torsion means interconnecting the tap and plug to move the plug, so as to open or close the waste water outlet, a terminal element pivotally mounted in a chamber of the tap holding one end of the torsion means, and a manually operable knob projecting from the tap to effect rotation of the terminal element and the torsion means.

United States Patent 1191 Parsons Oct. 9 1973 [54] FLUID CONTROL TAP AND PLUG 541,845 7/1895 Gilcher 4/203 1,335,946 4/1920 Watrous..... 4/203 ASSEMBLY 1,485,669 3/1924 Davis 4/203 [75] Inventor: Bernard Arthur Parsons, 1,758,226 5/1930 Kaufman 4/203 Birmingham, Warwickshire, 1,909,852 5/1933 Anderson 4/203 England 1,984,950 12/1934 Steen 4/203 [73] Assignee: IMI Developments Limited, FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Blrmmgham, England 1,217,239 12/1970 Great Britain 4/203 22 Filed: y 2 1971 90,616 10/1937 Sweden 4/203 [21] Appl 165384 Primary Examiner-William I. Price Assistant ExaminerDona1d B. Massenberg [30] Foreign Application Priority Data rw n y n, D rby & Cushman July 28, 1970 Great Britain 36,508/70 {57] ABSTRACT A fluid flow control tap and plug assembly in which [58] Fieid H205 295 there is a torsion means interconnecting the tap and plug to move the plug, so as to open or close the waste water outlet, a terminal element pivotally mounted in [56] References Cited a chamber of the tap holding one end of the torsion means, and a manually operable knob projecting from UNITED STATES PATENTS the tap to effect rotation of the terminal element and 2,657,398 11/1953 Watkins 4/203 the torsion mean5 1,901,649 3/1933 Huber 225,516 3/1880 Gates 64/2 R 4 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures FLUID CONTROL TAP AND PLUG ASSEMBLY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In the drawings a mixer tap it) comprises a body hav- This invention relates to fluid flow control tap and 5 i g a main y member two p p lail plug assemblies.

2. Description of the Prior Art Fluid control tap and plug assemblies are known wherein the tap has operably secured thereinone end of a plug actuating cable or rod to enable a plug to be moved, for example, in a wash-hand basin or bath so as to open or close the water outlet. A manually operable actuating knob normally projects from the tap to effect an axial movement of the cable or rod in order to move the plug.

One disadvantage of this arrangement is that a complex arrangement is required to move the plug, requiring an inner cable slidable in an outer cover, or a pivoted linkage mechanism. These arrangements do not provide for ease of adjustment of the effective length between the actuating knob and the plug to suit different installations. Furthermore, with an axial movement of the knob, allowance has to be made for the creation of a gap between the knob and its abutment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a fluid flow control tap and plug assembly comprises a fluid-control tap for controlling the flow of fluid, a plug for opening and closing a waste water outlet, and torsion means interconnecting the tap and plug to move the plug, so as to open or close the waste water outlet, the tap comprising a chamber accommodating an actuating mechanism for actuating the torsion means, said mechanism comprising a terminal element fixedly receiving one end of the torsion means, the terminal element being rotatably mounted in and axially supported with respect to a support element of the mechanism and having a manually operable lever and knob which projects from the tap for effecting rotation of the terminal element and thereby of the torsion means.

In one form of the invention the terminal element is prevented from axial movement in at least one direction by a resilient forked clip located in a recess in the terminal element and engageable with a surface of the support element of the actuating mechanism. Preferably, the terminal element is also prevented from axial movement in the other direction by' a surface of the terminal element engaging another surface of the support element. The two surfaces of the support element which axially locate the terminal element are conveniently the opposed surfaces of two spaced-apart walls of the support element.

The invention is applicable to taps controlling a single fluid supply, or to mixer taps controlling hot and cold fluid supplies.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING One embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a mixer tap and plug assembly, and

FIG. 2 is a view along line II-II of FIG. 1'.

pipes 12 depending from a base 13 of the body member 11 and an outlet spout 14 extending forwardly from a front part 15 of the body member. The spout has two side-by-side fluid flow outlet passages 16 divided from one another by a partition 19, the passages serving for the flow of hot and cold supplies of water received through the respective tail pipes 12. In the drawings, only one tail pipe and one outlet passage are shown. Each outlet passage 16 has an outlet orifice l7 directed downwardly from the spout and devoid of any extension projecting in the direction of flow of the water as it is emitted from the tap. A surface 18 of each outlet passage adjacent the orifice 17 is inclined towards the longitudinal axis of the outlet passage, a projection of the surface 18 intersecting the axis of the orifice 17 within the area of the outlet passage.

The partition 19 which divides the outlet passages 16 has a rear end 20 which terminates between front and rear parts 15 and 22 of the main body member. Between the rear end 20 of the partition and the rear part 22 of the main body member, and between the tail pipes 12, there is a chamber 23 which is partly defined by a support element 24, forming part of a plug actuating mechanism 25. At the rear of the main body member the chamber has an opening 26 for passage therethrough of the support element as described in our copending U.S. application Ser. No. 165,935 filed July 26, 1971. The opening 26 is closed by a cover plate 27 as also described in the said copending application.

The support element 24 comprises a closure member 28 which closes connecting passages 29 interconnecting the tail pipes 12 with their respective outlet passages 16 in the spout 14, from the chamber 23.

The support element 24 also comprises upper and lower spaced-apart horizontal walls MP, 311 respectively, which project rearwardly from the member 28 and have coaxial circular holes 32 therein.

A torsion means in the form of a torsion cable 33 interconnects the tap with a plug to be described later in the specification. A terminal element 34 is rotatably mounted in the hole 32 of the lower wall 3H and has portions projecting above and below the wall. The lower end of the terminal element 34 is formed with a bore to receive in captive manner one end of the cable 33. Immediately above the lower wall 31, the terminal element has a peripheral recess which receives part of a resilient forked clip 35 which engages the upper surface of the lower wall 311 so as to prevent downward axial movement of the element 34. T upper end of the terminal element has a flat chordal surface 36 and an operating lever 37 having a recess complementarily shaped to said upper end, is mounted on the terminal element to effect angular movement thereof and thereby to rotate the torsion cable 33.

The operating lever 37 has an upper spigot 38 which is rotatably disposed in the hole 32 of the upper wall 30 so that the shoulder surrounding the spigot engages the lower surface of the upper wall 30. The lever 37 and the terminal element 34 are thereby prevented from upward axial movement. A part 39 of the lever 37 projects through a slot 44) provided between the cover plate 27 and the tap body 11 for manual operation of the mechanism. An edge of the slot 40 is provided with detent portions (not shown) to provide positive location of the lever 37 at the ends of the slot.

The other end of the torsion cable 33 enters a socket member 41 rotatably mounted in a housing 42 secured tangentially across the lower end portion of a waste water outlet 43 secured in the base of a wash-hand basin 44. The cable is secured in the member 41 by a pinch screw 45 screw-threaded in the member 41 and extending radially outwardly through a slot provided in the housing 42.

A lever 46 has one end screw-threaded in the member 41 and projects through a circumferential slot in the housing 52 to extend diametrically towards and slightly beyond the vertical axis of the water outlet. The lower end of a push rod 47 is supported by the free end portion of the lever 46 and the push rod extends axially upwardly of the water outlet, through a bearing sleeve 48, to a plug 49 which is movable vertically to open or close the waste water outlet in known manner.

In use of the above described tap and plug assembly, the user of the tap moves the part 39 by finger pressure to rotate the lever 37 and thereby effect rotation through the element 34 of the torsion cable 33. This rotation turns the member 41 and thereby the lever 46 either to lift the push rod 47 and plug 49 to allow discharge of waste water from the basin 44, or to lower the push rod and plug to close the water outlet.

The above described construction provides for ease of assembly of the actuating mechanism in the tap and allows the mechanism to be easily dismantled for replacement or repair.

in one modification, the lever 37 is replaced by a knob secured to the terminal element 34 and extending vertically upwards, coaxially with the element, above the spout 14.

In the second modification, the support element 24 has a single apertured horizontal wall which projects rearwardly from the member 28 but of thickness greater than that of the walls 30, 31. The terminal element is rotatably mounted in the single wall and resilient forked clips engage each side of the wall and are received in appropriately spaced-apart peripheral recesses in the terminal element to prevent axial movement of th element.

I claim:

1. A fluid-flow control tap and plug assembly comprising a control tap for controlling the flow of fluid and a flug for opening and closing a waste water outlet, the tap and the plug being operably interconnected by a torsion device which comprises a single torsionable member which extends from the tap to the waste water outlet so that rotation of said device moves the plug, to open and close the waste water outlet, the tap comprising a chamber accommodating an actuating mechanism for actuating the torsion device, said mechanism comprising a terminal element fixedly receiving one end of the torsion device, the terminal element being rotatably mounted in and supported by a support element of the mechanism which extends into said chamber, the support element preventing movement of the terminal element in at least one direction axially of the torsion device, and a manually operable lever and knob which projects from the tap for effecting rotation of the terminal element and thereby of the torsion device.

2. An assembly according to claim 1 wherein the terminal element is prevented from axial movement in one direction by a resilient forked clip located in a recess in the terminal element and which clip engages with a surface of the support element of the actuating mechanism.

3. An assembly according to claim 2 wherein the terminal element is prevented from axial movement in the other direction by a surface of the terminal element engaging the lever and knob of which a surface engages another surface of th support element.

4. An assembly according to claim 3 wherein the two surfaces of the support element which axially locate the terminal element are the opposed surfaces of two spaced-apart walls of the support element. 

1. A fluid-flow control tap and plug assembly comprising a control tap for controlling the flow of fluid and a plug for opening and closing a waste water outlet, the tap and the plug being operably interconnected by a torsion device which comprises a single torsionable member which extends from the tap to the waste water outlet so that rotation of said device moves the plug, to open and close the waste water outlet, the tap comprising a chamber accommodating an actuating mechanism for actuating the torsion device, said mechanism comprising a terminal element fixedly receiving one end of the torsion device, the terminal element being rotatably mounted in and supported by a support element of the mechanism which extends into said chamber, the support element preventing movement of the terminal element in at least one direction axially of the torsion device, and a manually operable lever and knob which projects from the tap for effecting rotation of the terminal element and thereby of the torsion device.
 2. An assembly according to claim 1 wherein the terminal element is prevented from axial movement in one direction by a resilient forked clip located in a recess in the terminal element and which clip engages with a surface of the support element of the actuating mechanism.
 3. An assembly according to claim 2 wherein the terminal element is prevented from axial movement in the other direction by a surface of the terminal element engaging the lever and knob of which a surface engages another surface of the support element.
 4. An assembly according to claim 3 wherein the two surfaces of the support element which axially locate the terminal element are the opposed surfaces of two spaced-apart walls of the support element. 